


What Dreams Are Made Of

by Gabett



Category: Dragon Age - All Media Types, Dragon Age: Inquisition
Genre: Dreamers (Dragon Age), Dreams and Nightmares, F/M, Hurt/Comfort, Somniari
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-05
Updated: 2020-01-05
Packaged: 2021-02-27 15:08:02
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,156
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22129216
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Gabett/pseuds/Gabett
Summary: From a prompt on reddit: Bare feet padding on cold tile, the creak of a door opening, a soft whisper, a kiss on the shoulder.***She is a Dreamer. Night by night, she helps the ones she loves with their nightmares.
Relationships: Female Lavellan/Cullen Rutherford
Comments: 1
Kudos: 30





	What Dreams Are Made Of

**Author's Note:**

> First time posting anything in... *looks at calendar* I would say at least eight years. Please be gentle!
> 
> Title: Ruelle - What Dreams Are Made Of
> 
> Music recommendation: Cicada - Ocean Foam

She has always been sensitive to the currents of the Beyond. Somniari is the word in the tongue of the Imperium. A Dreamer, her Keeper had called her.

The currents of the Beyond are easily disturbed by the feelings of those who walk in their waters, she knows that. She also knows how to tell one dream from another, how to follow the threads back to the dreamer, how to adjust and nudge and guide until the sharp and ragged edges of a nightmare quiet into something soft and warm. It used to be easy when she was still with the Clan. There were only a couple of dozen of them, the young dreams easy to pick out from the old memories of the forest surrounding the camp. But Haven has been different, and Skyhold even more so. So many people with so many dreams, so many feelings, whims and wishes to stir the never ending flow of the Beyond. It's impossible to keep track of each and every one of them.

But even in this cacophony, there are a few who stand out still. The people she holds close while awake repay her affections by keeping close to her in their dreams. Even unaware as they are after sleep takes them, their soul seeks out hers.

Solas likes to lose himself in old memories, and he keeps a tight hold on the piece of the Beyond he carves out for himself when he does so. She takes it as a sign and leaves him be. Dorian and Vivienne have a close connection with the Land of Dreams and rarely require assistance. They are sensitive to magic that isn’t their own, so she only touches their minds softly. Cassandra, she cannot touch. Or rather, she probably could, but it would require a force she won’t ever use on her friends. Luckily, the Seeker doesn’t need her help; a soft-spoken spirit guards her sleep diligently.

Blackwall dreams of memories. Memories leave deeper imprints in the Beyond than regular dreams, and so she has to avert her eyes when she guides him into blissful unconsciousness. Bull dreams of disturbing things; she does not peek, but she can still sense it. His perfect control is completely lost when he is asleep. She knows how important that control is for him, and so she never tells him when she smooths out the edges of his nightmares. Sera’s dreams are usually light and whimsical, but not even she can escape the nightmares entirely. She knows how much the Red Jenny distrusts magic, and so she only intervenes when she really has to.

Leliana’s dreams are more solid; they speak of someone who had walked the Beyond before with their eyes open. She doesn’t ask; she knows she wouldn’t get an answer. Josephine’s dreams are soft but rapidly changing; they are just as tiring as her time spent awake. She usually picks out a single image and slows it down, stretches it out for her.

And then there is Cullen.

He dreams; she couldn’t miss that. The pains of his nightmares cut deeply into the fabric of the Beyond. But at the same time something sings within him still, something so ancient that it rivals the Beyond itself, something heavy and solid and unchangeable. It is familiar, and it is alien; it burns like white-hot fire. It’s lyrium, but in him, it’s different. It shuts her out, and it keeps her away. She can feel his pain, but she cannot touch it.

She wakes herself up.

Her bare feet don’t make a sound as she rushes down the stairs. Cold stone burns her skin; it’s always cold in the mountains, so unlike the warm forests she used to know. She crosses the Great Hall, and she leaves the library behind. She is chased by the wild wind on the battlements. The moons are hidden, and everything is swallowed by darkness, but she knows this path well. Even beyond that, her heart leads her to his.

His door creaks as she opens it. It’s a familiar sound. A ladder leads up to his room; a bed and a small table, nothing more; the wall and the roof only recently patched. Elves see better in the dark than humans do, but she still has difficulty making out his form on the bed. He is curled up into a tiny ball in the corner, his expression full of fear and desperation, and a small moan escapes his lips as she takes a moment to catch her breath.

She climbs onto the bed slowly, carefully, and tenderly brushes his shoulder, ready to jump back if he were to lash out in a panic as he sometimes does. For a moment he freezes, and then he wakes with a start, backing up against the wall as soon as he regains control of his body.

“It’s me,” she whispers. “I’m here. It’s alright. It was just a dream. You are awake now.”

He does not answer, but he lunges forward, his momentum almost sweeping them both off the bed as he wraps his arms around her. His shoulders shake as he silently starts to cry.

“It’s over. I’m here. You are safe. I won’t let anyone harm you.”

She wraps her arms around him as much as she can with her movements restricted by his tight hold on her.

“You aren’t dreaming” she tells him. “I love you, and there is nothing more real than that.” She can’t reach his face, and so she leaves a soft kiss on his shoulder.

Slowly, he relaxes. His arms around her loosen, and so she can shift into a more comfortable position. His head tilts down, and his forehead touches hers. Eyes closed, he breathes in deeply.

“I love you too,” he says, voice hoarse. “I’m sorry…”

“Please don’t apologize. The only important thing is that you are alright.” Her hand comes up to cup the side of his face.

He opens his eyes. The memory of his dream still lingers in his gaze, and she wishes with all her heart that she could take that pain from him. She knows she can’t take back what had been done to him, but Void take her if she won’t give her everything to bury those memories and heal those scars. Night by night. Word by word. Touch by touch.

“Thank you,” he whispers.

“I’m here for you, whenever you need me. You are not alone in this anymore,” she tells him as she had told him on many other nights like this.

“Maker, I don’t deserve you,” he says, his voice breaking under the weight of his emotions, and his lips find hers. The kiss is desperate but tender; it’s almost more emotion than touch. He holds her, and she holds him.

Time stops.

_The Beyond will remember this moment._

Then it starts again.

“Stay with me?” he asks.

“Forever,” she promises.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading!


End file.
